Secrets of Connection
by HarryPotter4Ever-celia
Summary: Like A, Kela wakes up in a different body every day. However, Kela identifies fully as female, even when she's in a guy's body. Unlike A, Kela is still looking for answers, and when she meets A after he flees Maryland for Chicago, she's one step closer to getting them. But to really know their humanity, the duo will have to retrace their steps to everyone they ever connected with.
1. Kela: James McCaughley

_**A/N: I started writing this because I really care about the characters from this book. I feel like I don't necessarily get like this, and there have only really been a few series after Harry Potter and Percy Jackson where I've felt as invested.**_ _ **Every Day**_ _**was one of those series.**_

 _ **This is an interesting story because of the plot of David Levithan's book, so my disclaimer is a bit odd, but here goes: All rights to David Levithan for the plot and idea. Credit also to Levithan for the characters of A, Rhiannon, Alexander, and Nathan. Kela, Kelley, Kennedy, Lydia, and any other characters from Chicago belong to me. Katie belongs to us jointly because she actually has a story and a last name in this fanfic.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

 **When I was about eight years old, I spent a day in the body of a girl named Kelley Monroe. Of my many daily lives, she's the one I remember the most. Eight years later, I still look her up on Facebook every so often, when I can log into my own account without leaving too many traces.**

The day I spent as Kelley was one of the best I've ever had in my life. She had won an award in her second-grade class for the way she always helped other students. I felt great to be able to share her special moment.

That day was influential in shaping me to be the person I was, and I decided then that my name would be Kela.

I guess this isn't going to make much sense to you, but let me explain. I've woken up in the body of a different person my whole life. I "live" on the Illinois/Wisconsin border, so I've been everywhere from Chicago to Kenosha.

I used to think I was the only one like me, but a few months ago, there was an uproar in the DC metropolis area. Apparently, a kid named Nathan had been possessed by the devil. His words, of course, not mine. With his description, and the website he had made afterwards, so many others claiming similar experiences led me to believe I wasn't alone.

Today, I've woken up in the body of James McCaughley. James is the star quarterback at a Chicago public high school; one where football is about the only thing it has going for it.

I hate it when I'm a guy, but I especially hate guys like this. You see, I'm pretty sure I'm a girl, and it's how I identify. But James McCaughley is a womanizer with a superiority complex. He's currently cheating on his girlfriend, cheer captain Jessica Stone, with Amy Harris, captain of the dance team. Some quick accessing tells me that he's headed to a party today, one that, for some reason, neither Jessica or Amy is going to.

Ever since I was Kelley, winning that award, I've tried to make the people whose lives I've been living just a little bit better. I picked up the phone and called Jeremy Lerner, the basketball star hosting the party, to tell him I couldn't make it. I was pretty sure it would be unlike James _not_ to pick up a side chick at the party, and I figured I owed it to Jessica and Amy. Maybe I could even manage to instill some sense into him while I borrowed his body. Other than being a woman, I also defined myself as a huge feminist.

I decided to do his homework while I was at it. James' teachers would be shocked if he actually handed it in. I knew that wouldn't last long, but at least it was _something_.

I ran my hand through his brown, curly hair without really thinking about it. James was sweaty from football the night before. I decided to do him a favor and shower, something he rarely did. I was lucky that he didn't have siblings, and that his parents were both out of town on business, (they were managers at Target, and were at a conference in Virginia. I didn't think managers of corporations had conferences, but I guess I was wrong.) since I planned on being very uncharacteristically James-like

In my opinion, James was a really boring person. The day passed uneventfully, and I went to bed early, hoping I'd wake up tomorrow in a body and life that I'd rather be in.


	2. A: Day 6034

As much as I _need_ to leave, I still hate what I'm doing to Katie and her family. However, I do some quick accessing and find out that today seems to be my lucky day. Katie Roberts' family moved to DC last month, and she's still very homesick. She wouldn't be surprised if she ended up back in Chicago instead of her drive to school. She misses her friends.

Chicago is eleven hours away from Washington, DC by car. Katie knows the way well enough, but I've plugged the city into her phone to make sure. Katie has no siblings, and her parents work all day, so I should be able to reach Chicago by midnight. It's about six o'clock on Saturday morning. If I left within the hour, I could make it there by nine, accounting for bathroom breaks and traffic.

Luckily, Katie has her own car, too. I decide to eat a large breakfast, and then cram all the granola bars, deli, and cookies I can find. As I go through her morning routine, I access more about her family. They don't believe in prepackaged desserts, so there's always some kind of baked goods around the house. They only buy deli from locally-sourced, cruelty-free farms, but Katie doesn't mind their weird food habits. In fact, up until the move, Katie was very happy with her parents. However, they had come to Maryland to get out of the city, only to find that they lived too close to Washington DC. They could not afford to come and see the house, but they needed the cheapest thing possible, and the seller had lied and sent false pictures.

I ate breakfast without really thinking about it. Then, I stepped into the brisk November air, and pressed her keys. In the car, my mind drifted back to her story.

To make everything worse, she had met someone who she thought was a friend, but he had turned out way too self-centered. I tried to dig a bit deeper, and I didn't like what I saw. Nathan Daldry did this to her. And it absolutely tore her apart that he chose demons and Reverend Poole instead of his newfound friendship with her. I wish there were some way for me to tell her just how fake it all was.

I was upset, too. I had vowed not to think about Poole. As I fiddled with the radio, I thought about how close I was to Rhiannon. She wouldn't be waking up yet. Alexander Lin would be waking up to her, and to my happy memories of the night before. It wouldn't be too hard to turn back, to tell Alex I was a friend from school. But I couldn't do that to her. Tears welled in my eyes, and I finally found a song I liked.

In Katie's body, I relaxed into the music, watching out for traffic. Around noon, I made myself a sandwich. I was just outside of Cincinnati, which meant I had made excellent time. In another couple of hours, I'd be just outside of my destination. I decided to call Kelley Monroe and let her know I was headed back.

It used to be the three K's, a few years ago in Chicago. Kelley and I had met in second grade, and she still maintained that that was the best year of her life, even eight years later. Kelley was the main reason I was heading back now. Or at least, those were the memories I would leave Katie with when she thought about it tomorrow.

Anyway, the two of us had been closer to each other than anyone else in the school. In fourth grade, Kennedy Paxton moved to the neighborhood, and soon we were all having sleepovers and dreaming about being _real_ teenagers.

Throughout middle school, we were incredibly close, but the summer before freshman year, Kelley and I realized we had feelings for each other. We started experimenting with those, and by the time we were fifteen, we were dating. Kennedy was absolutely disgusted, and she gathered all of our former friends against us, just because we were two girls in a relationship. It was awful.

I didn't know why I was remembering all of this in the first person, but I felt like Katie wouldn't really mind what we were doing today, and Kelley would understand. It was Saturday, anyway, so Katie had time.

Kelley picked up on the first ring. "Katie!" She squealed.

I wished I was really Katie Roberts in that moment. "I'm coming home," I told her. "I kind of….ditched my parents for the weekend. Can I crash at your place?"

"Katie, are you okay?" Kelley asked cautiously.

"Yes. No. Listen, I'll tell you everything tomorrow morning." I fished around in Katie's purse, feeling like I was doing something I shouldn't have been; invading her privacy. "Does your spare key still work? I'm just so tired of Maryland."

"Yes. When will you be in?"

I glanced out the window. All I could see was corn for miles. I didn't know much about Illinois, but I guessed that was a good sign. "I don't know. I'll call you when I hit town."

Kelley agreed, and we hung up. I hoped that Katie's family would move back to Chicago soon.

I didn't really think about the time, and soon enough I was hitting buildings and heavy traffic. Within another couple of hours, because Chicago traffic can be horrible, I was at Kelley's apartment. I breathed a sigh of relief, we had made it.


End file.
